October 22, 2019

African swine fevers kills 20% of Vietnam's hogs, says USDA undersecretary
 

20% of Vietnam's  hog herd have died due to the outbreak of African swine fever in the country, said Ted McKinney, the Undersecretary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 18.

Additionally, it remains unclear whether the outbreak is brought under control.

Numbers of hog deaths might even higher, according to McKinney, who spoke to reporters on a conference call from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, during a government and agricultural industry trade mission.

Last week, the Vietnamese government claimed that the spread of ASF appeared to be abating and had encouraged local farmers to resume building up pig herds impacted by the disease. However, McKinney noted the difficultly of determining if that was really the case.

For now, the spread of ASF does not seem to have accelerated in the country. This development was conveyed to McKinney by the chief executive of a large Vietnamese feed company.

US pork exports have jumped and hog processors have been vying for business in China, the world's biggest pork consumer, and other markets in Asia, where ASF has devastated hog herds, pushed pork prices to record highs and sent imports rocketing.

USDA pork export sales data issued on October 18 for the period from October 4-10 included "a significant quantity" of sales that may have occurred in previous weeks - including exports to Mexico jumping to a weekly record of 132,381 tonnes, from 2,692 tonnes a week earlier.

Vietnamese buyers are also acquiring poultry, beef and water buffalo, other than pork, as the country prepares for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations in January, McKinney said.

- Reuters